SRI Lanka came into the 2023 Netball World Cup as an underdog and while there were some comparative strong performances ultimately the Asian nation finished last at the tournament. Luckily the team did not come away without a victory, defeating Barbados by four goals in the highlight of the nation’s tournament, but three-goal losses to the lowest ranked side in Singapore twice sealed Sri Lanka’s fate.
RESULTS
Group C: 4th (0-3, -147 goal difference)
lost to Jamaica by 80 goals (25-105)
lost to South Africa by 55 goals (32-87)
lost to Wales by 12 goals (56-68)
Group E: 4th (1-2, -34 goal difference)
lost to Singapore by 3 goals (52-55)
lost to Zimbabwe by 35 goals (36-71)
defeated Barbados by 4 goals (60-56)
15th Placed Playoff:
lost to Singapore by 3 goals (46-49)
HIGHLIGHT
An easy choice as the victory over Barbados was Sri Lanka’s only taste of success in the tournament. Given Barbados had some quality players, the 60-56 triumph was one to savour. Leading by four goals at half-time, Sri Lanka had a scare as the Bajan Gems piled on 22-13 in the third term to take a four-goal lead themselves into the final break. Luckily Sri Lanka steadied with its best quarter of the fortnight, putting up 17 goals to eight to win by four goals.
STANDOUT PLAYER
Dulangi Wannithileka was one player who consistently showed up and did her best, playing in the attacking third of the ground. While she only scored the 28 goals herself, she was largely the one setting them up, and was a target off the centre pass with a whopping 126 centre pass receives. She provided some key feeds into the circle, and provided some movement in there.
OTHERS
Doing the bulk of the shooting work, Thishala Algama put up 146 goals. Her effort was 87 more than any other Sri Lankan player with towering veteran Tharjini Sivalingam on limited minutes. Semini Alwis chipped in with some support, while Gayanjali Amarawansa tipped over the century for feeds. Up the other end, Chathurangi Jayasooriya pulled in 10 of her side’s total 15 defensive rebounds for the tournament, and also topped her side’s deflections.
SUMMARY
Sri Lanka come away as the last placed team, but will take plenty of solace from the tournament. After a couple of horror first-up matches, largely the underdogs were competitive. Grabbing a win against Barbados was a huge success, and while Sri Lanka would have loved to have defeated Singapore, it was not to be.
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